World: African Nations Try to Fight Boko Haram

Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist group responsible for the deaths of more than 10,000 people, is about to have to contend with a new force, as forces from Chad and Niger opened a new front in the regional military fight by sending army vehicles full of soldiers into the northeast border of Nigeria. Help couldn’t come soon enough, Boko Haram has been fighting a nearly 6-year insurgency against the Nigerian government, and on Saturday declared their allegiance to the extremist Islamic State group in the Middle East. “They are bandits and criminals who have nothing to do with religion,” said Chadian Brig. Gen. Zakaria Ngobongue. Witnesses noted roughly 200 military vehicles crossing into Nigeria on Saturday. Cameroon’s minister of defense, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o, said troops from Nigeria and Chad would fight Boko Haram while soldiers from Cameroon and Niger would guard their borders to prevent the militants from escaping. The world will be waiting for news on whether the new forces will have any impact on stopping Boko Haram.